Help Lola Celsa Fight Lung Cancer

Hi, I'm Winona and I'm from the Philippines. I came to the US in 2021 to be closer to my dad and help support my family back in the Philippines. While in the Philippines, it was my lola (grandmother in Filipino) who took care of me and is raising my siblings to this day.

On February 10th 2024, my lola Celsa was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer. They found a tumor in her lungs which explained the cough, chest pain and numerous hospital visits she went through for years. This came as a shock to us as my lola is not a smoker and has lived a healthy lifestyle. Doctors later explained to us that her over 30 years of extended exposure to pollution from cooking with wood for the family food business, as well as the secondhand smoking from her sari-sari (corner) store could have put her at risk. This was beyond painful to hear — that what sustained us was actually slowly hurting her body.

On March 21st, she had a successful exploratory thoracotomy to remove the tumor in her lungs but the doctors also found 13 other nodules around her lungs and heart. Of the 13, one returned to be positive for cancer after a biopsy. This nodule was found near her heart which meant that the cancer has started to spread, putting her at stage 3, which means she needs more treatment post-surgery.

She is currently in recovery from the surgery. We are seeing great progress which is wonderful! The next step is to undergo a prolonged targeted therapy to slow down the growth of the cancer cells (hopefully with only minimal to no need for chemotherapy and radiation).

Since she is in the Philippines, there is no insurance coverage for these breakthrough treatments, and the drug treatment comes out of pocket from Astra Zeneca here in the USA. The treatment involves taking a pill once a day called Osimiternib (Tagrisso) which is very expensive (doctors estimate around Php88,000/month or $1600/mo, and would need to be taken for at least three years. In the US, this cost would be even higher at $17,000 a month unless you have really good insurance. These costs are outside of laboratory exams and other medications she will need to take to feel comfortable, adding to the total cost of care. Tagrisso is a life-changing cancer treatment that has been proven to be highly effective without any additional radiation or chemo. She has complications with her heart and thyroid, so having this miracle drug could spur her into remission and back to full health.

Thank you for reading. My lola is the most selfless woman I know. She turned every stone to get me to where I am now and has put my family's needs above her own for as long as I know. It hurts that I cannot physically be with her in such a hard time, but I am doing everything I can with what I have, just like she's always done for me.

My family is currently doing what we can and we’re humbly accepting donations to help cover the substantial cost of treatments in the next years. Any amount will go a long way and will be greatly appreciated.

Salamat and Thank you! Please feel free to share!